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The Life and 
Character 

OP 

George Washington 

—BY- 
HENRY M. HALL 



Published in the 

PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUTH 
February 23, 19 10 

And reproduced through the courtesy of 

Rev. George Summey, one of the Editors 

of that paper. 



4 > 



Andree & Elliott, Printers, New Orleans. 



IN EXCHANGE 




PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED 



FOR THE USK OF THE 



SCHOOLS 

ON WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY 



BY- 



MR. W. O. HART 



OF THE 

LOUISIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 

OF 

GEORGE WASHINGTON 

AS THE years roll on, carrying our 
republic farther and farther away from 
its birth and infancy; we might be 
led to forget the brave men, who over a cen- 
tury ago, through toil and blood, founded it; 
were it not that George Washington's Birth- 
day Anniversary comes around regularly upon 
the 22nd day of February, to remind us of the 
price paid for the liberty we have so long en- 
joyed; and the independence and prosperity, 
Inaugurated by our fathers, led on by the im- 
mortal Washington so truly well termed "The 
Father of our Country." 

At such a period as this, from year to year ; 
it may be well for. us and our children to 
refresh our memories and recall some of the 
deeds and the influence of Georo;e Washino-- 
ton, m the American Revolution, and his sub- 
sequent power in greatly aiding in the con- 
struction of our Constitution and founding our 
republic upon the solid rock of constitutional 
liberty and justice. 

The life and career of our first president, 
presents many characteristics and grand 
achievements worthy of review. 

When in 1775 the American Colonies re- 



volted from the Mother Country, in armed 
revolution, they plunged into a very dangerous 
struggle, w^ith but small prospect of defeating 
one of the most powerful nations of the v^orld. 
They were but just emerging from the infancy 
of settlement, with but few resources with 
which to carry on a great war with the well 
equipped and wealthy mother country. From 
a commonsense estimate, they had small 
chance of success. 

First. Because they were all comparatively 
small and weak colonies, with separate and 
not altogether congenial governments that 
England might conquer in detail, and subju- 
gate to her tyrannical purposes; which was 
then her plan. 

To look dispassionately at this problem of 
the thirteen colonies being able to achieve 
independence; with a population of only two 
and a half million people, scattered along 
fifteen hundred miles of narrow coast line; 
the chance of triumph over England would 
seem to be decidedly against them. They 
doubtless would have been easily beaten had 
it not been at least for five important circum- 
stances; namely: 

First. The gradual education of the 
people of all the colonies to a sense of their 
wrongs and rights, by the fifteen years of 
protest and discussion, from 1760 to 1775. 

— 2 — 



Second. The Indian wars, that taught 
every man to handle a gun ; and the French 
and Indian war of 1750-56 that taught many 
of the young men the art of European war- 



tare 



Third. The distance of ocean space be- 
tween England and America. 

Fourth. The secret aid and finally the open 
aid of France. 

Fifth. The rare abihties of the New' Eng- 
land patriotic leaders of the Revolution and 
their great wisdom in selecting George Wash- 
ington, of Virginia, for the chief command 
of the Continental Armies. Without Wash- 
ington, the signing of the Declaration of 
Independence upon the Fourth of July. 1776, 
by the liberty-devoted members of the Conti- 
nental Congress, would have resulted only in 
their death as traitors. The words that Frank- 
h'n uttered at the time: "If we do not all hang 
together, we shall hang separately," would 
have come true, had not George Washington 
been the wonderful man who made all tliose 
colonies hang together, instead of becoming 
a mere ropo of sand. 

Such being the perilous state of the colonies 
on the Fourth of July, 1776, we at once per- 
ceive why Washington was the "right man 
in the right place," to become the saviour of 



-3- 



his country. Oliver Wendell Holmes, em- 
phasizes the value of heredity by saying, "To 
be a good and great man, one must be born 
250 years previous to his entry into the world," 
i. e., must have had good ancestry. As we now 
are able clearly to trace Washington's pedi- 
o-ree back to the time of Charles the First, in 
England, and subsequently to his great-great- 
grandfather in Virginia; we find them all of 
noble blood, superior intelligence and charac- 
ter. One great-grandfather was a famous 
Indian fighter who gave his name to Wash- 
ington county, Virginia, in the early settlement 
of that State. 

Upon the early death of Wjashington's grand- 
father, the v/idow, Mildred Warner, the 
grandmother of George, took her two young 
sons to England and gave them a thorough 
English education. One son was Augustine 
Washington, the father of George. He mar- 
ried Mary Ball, daughter of Colonel Ball, a 
prominent Virginian ; and thus her son, George 
Washington, had both a talented, and educated 
mother and father. Thus it came to pass that 
young George, at the age of twelve, was an 
excellent mathematician and fine penman, be- 
sides being well drilled as a youth in farm 
work, hunting and athletic sports. He in- 
herited a splendid constitution, a clear brain 

—4— 



ancf magnrrrcent physique. Early in youth he 
became accustomed to the best Virginia society 
of that time ; and besides was well known to 
eminent political men. He was so well appre- 
ciated, that at the early age of fourteen he 
received the appointment from England of a 
midshipman's berth in his Majesty, King 
George's navy. He was all ready to embark 
at the water side, when yielding to his mother's 
entreaties he threw up his commission, even 
<it the boat that was to carry him to the ship. 
That noble action proved two things; his 
mother's power and influence, and his own 
high sense of filial duty ; an eminent mark of 
fine character — love to a mother. After re- 
turning to the charge of the home plantation 
during two years ; his father and brother be- 
ing deceased ; at the age of sixteen he was 
appointed to the post of land surveyor, a very 
, important one at the time. At the age of 
nineteen he was chosen by Governor Dinwid- 
die, of Virginia, to go as a commissioner six 
hundred miles to the French commandant at 
Presque Isle; now the city of Erie, on Lake 
•I Erie. The route was then a pathless wilder- 
I ness. This task he successfully achieved, 

'; gonig as far as what it now Waterford, be- 
n tween Franklin, Pa., and Erie, as the French 
would permit him to go no further. He was 
most of the time alone, amid countless dan- 

— s— 



gers from wild 'Jeasts and wild Indians, and 
the hardships of winter travel on foot; taking 
three months time — a marvelous achievement. 

At this period he was about six feet and two 
inches tall, finely proportioned and weighed 
upwards of two hundred pounds. As a young 
man he excelled in all athletic sports, and was 
the acknowledged champion at that time in all 
deeds of strength and endurance. The French 
and Indian war beginning the next year after 
his embassy, at the age of twenty he was 
appointed and led four hundred Virginian 
riflemen in a march to Fort Duquesne, at the 
head waters of the Ohio, where Pittsburgh 
now stands. Being met by a thousand French 
and Indians he fought them nobly at Fort 
Necessity, which he built ; and then made an 
honorable retreat back to Williamsburg, Va. 
Washington was aid-de-camp to General Brad- 
dock in his march with an army of two thou- 
sand men to the Ohio river. Braddock would j 
not bcive been defeated, if he had followed 
Washington's advice. His army was saved 
from utter rout by the bravery and skill of 
Washington and the colonial troops. 

Subsequently, Washington fought gallantly 
through the six years of the "French and In- 
dian War" and was made Colonel of his regi- 
ment before the age of twenty-five. Wher\ 
entering after this, as member of the Vir- 

—6— 



ginia House of Burgesses, he was greeted by 
the unanimous resolution of the House, com- 
mending his miHtary career in that war. Upon 
rising to acknowledge the compHment, he was 
at a loss for suitable words, being taken by 
surprise; when the speaker said, "Sit down 
Colonel Washington, your modesty is only 
exceeded by your bravery." 

For twenty years during this period Wash- 
ingto was engaged in civil pursuits, plantation 
cultivation and public business ; thus adding 
statesmanship and business methods to mili- 
tary arts. At the age of forty-five he was 
chosen by the Continental Congress, under the 
influence of the Adams' patriots, to take the 
supreme command of the Continental Army at 
Boston. This was a very wise choice on many 
accounts. First. Because of his high charac- 
ter, both in the North and the South, as an 
eminent military commander. Second. Be- 
cause it tended to more firmly bind the State 
of Virginia and other Southern Colonies to 
New York, Pennsylvania and New England, 
1 in one great compact for liberty. Third. Be- 
cause of his great common sense and superior 
education, and his influence as a man of 
wealth. 

No sooner had he taken command of the 
"embattled farmers" at Boston, than he com- 



meiicecl Ciiligently to mould this mob of mi- 
disciplined men into trained and drilled 
soldiers. Owing to want of supplies and want 
of men trained to meet the veterans of 
Europe in battle, he had to *'win, like Scipio, 
by delay." Not only did Washington win by 
knowing how to fight but also by knowing 
how safely to retreat, as proved at the 
battle of Long Island. He early gained also, 
the love and devotion of the army and the 
people. 

Not only did Washington shine as a military 
leader all through a seven years' war, but he 
led and directed at the same time, the Conti- 
nental Congress, by appeals, advice and influ- 
ence. But for Washington as the General in 
the field, and the man who alone could (like 
Napoleon later) hold an army together, Con- 
gress itself would have dissolved and melted 
away. The weak-kneed in the colonies, like 
some, would have given up the struggle as 
hopeless. Not only was Washington a power 
in Congress, but he was a profound diplomat, 
so that by the aid of Franklin and others, he 
was able to get the financial assistance of 
France as well ^s from the moneyed men of 

Philadelphia, Boston and New York. Money 
constitutes the great sinews of war. No war 

could be successful in gunpowder times with- 
out money. Hence Washington not only ad- 

—8— 



vanced funds every year during the war, but 
persuaded others to lend their financial aid. 
He, by his supreme firmness and force of 
character greatly aided to keep up the courage 
of the struggling nation. All through the exi- 
gencies of war, the horror of Valley Forge, 
the detection of Arnold, the folly of Gates, 
and other traitors to the cause, it was the 
ability and solid character of Washington that 
kept the colonies up to the great task of 
winning liberty and independence. Under 
the tyranny of George the Third and the cor- 
rupt English aristocracy, was at last won by 
the capture of Cornwallis. 

The colonies, held more or less together by 
the dangers and exigencies of the Revolution- 
ary war, after that had ended, had a very 
loose confederation and were likely to lose all 
the benefits of the long drawn war, in anarchy 
and dissolution. By the efforts of the wiser 
men of the colonies, among whom Washing- 
ton, Franklin and Hamilton were foremost, a 
constitutional convention was formed with 
Washington as president. 

This convention which met in 1878 enacted 
our present admirable Constitution, one of 
the foremost and best in the history of na- 
tions. But for the grand character of Wash- 
ington, this convention of more or less discord- 



ant elements would not have been held to- 
gether, or brought to mutual compromise and 
agreement. 

It was the high character and abilities of 
George Washington that led to the acceptance 
of the new constitution by the people. When 
elected, during eight years as the first presi- 
dent of the new republic, his great mind and 
heart shone out with renewed brilliancy, de- 
spite all detractors, to the end of his presiden- 
tial career. 

In estimating the character of this remark- 
able man, "the Father of our Country, 'First 
in war, first in peace and first in the hearts 
of his countrymen' " our analysis must grant 
at least two principal things, viz : Wisdom and 
Goodness. His life shows the value, first, of 
good parents, good environments and good 
education. Washington also like Cromwell 
cind William of Orange, two centuries before 
him, and Abraham Lincoln of nearly a cen- 
tury after him ; was not only a strictly moral 
man, but religious, without being partisan. 
He was not afraid to pray to God and trust in 
His providence. Washington, like Cincinna- 
tus, and unlike some would-be great men, was 
not ambitious to "rule or ruin." His char- 
acter was so pure, his mind so well trained, 
and his body so splendidly developed; that 

— 10 — 



upon this, the i68th anniversary of his birth, 
all patriotic Americans can join with milHons 
of other good people in claiming Washington 
as one of the noblest of men. 
Pittsburg, Pa. 



THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON. 

{From the New Orleans Times-Democrat, 

February 3, 191 1.) 

The mother in her ©ffice holds the key 

Of the soul ; and she it is who stamps the coin 

Of character, and makes the being who would 

be a savage, 
But for her gentle cares, a Christian man. 

—Old Play. 
Just as Washington is inevitably to be known 
as the "Father of His Country," so the mother 
of Washington may be appropriately named the 
"mother of our nation." And that she is 
worthy of the title, as much as her son is to 
his, was shown in all the noble deeds of this 
great American woman. Mary Washington's 
life was one unbroken series of praiseworthy 
actions. In the Revolutionary drama, in 
which she figured in many of its earlier scenes, 
by her noble and inspiring womanhood, her 
example went far toward making and molding 
' the first chief of our nation. 

— II — .> 



Mary Washington's whole hfe was so strik- 
i"giy grand, she was uniformly so gentle, so 
amiable and so dignified, that it would be diffi- 
cult to fix the eye on any one act more strik- 
ing than the rest. The illustrious son, natur- 
ally, so overshadowed the modest and unas- 
suming mother, that we are very prone to for- 
get to give credit to the woman to which he 
owed much of his greatness. Always absorbed 
in the domestic duties she discharged so faith- 
fully, she made her great gift to men, and 
then passed from the stage as quietly and as 
modestly she had lived and labored. 

But Washington never forgot the real source 
of his greatness. He was always remindful of 
the woman whose virtues had warmed his own 
and had fitted him to become the man of un- 
l)ending integrity and heroic courage. Wash- 
ington's father having died when George was 
a young man, it fell to the lot of the mother 
to rear hej five children with that untiring 
hand which guided so many widows through 
this perilous season. And as the richest re- 
ward of a mother's solicitude and toil, she had 
the happiness of seeing all of her children come 
forward with a fair promise into life, and lived 
to witness the noble career of her eldest son, 
till, by his own rare merits, he was raised to 
the head of a nation, and applauded and re- 
vered by the whole wof^d. 

— 12 — 



Had Washington failed, the cause of Hberty 
would have failed also. But, thanks to the 
great mother's teaching, he looked within when 
all was dark, took courage and fought on until 
the clouds had disappeared and he stood fourth 
in the bright sunlight looking over a trium- 
phant infant nation, which was to become 
one of the greatest on the globe. 

How thoroughly typical of the mother was 
her reception of the news of the son's suc- 
cessful passage of the Delaware in the bleak 
December of 1776. When she came to those 
portions of the dispatches which were panegy- 
rical of her son, she modestly and coolly ob- 
served to the bearers of the good tidings, that 
"George appeared to have deserved well of 
his country for each signal service. But, my 
good sirs," she added, "here is too much flat- 
tery ! Still George will not forget the lessons 
j I have taught him — he will not forget himself, 
' though he is the subject of so much praise." 
, Another splendid example of the type of 
' woman as was the mother of George Wash- 
ington, is expressed in the final visit of Gen. 
Lafayette to pay his respects to her just be- 
I fore starting for his home in France, in 1784. 
1 Conducted by one of her grandsons, he ap- 
proached the house, when the young gentle- 
man observed : 



13 



"There, sir, is my grandmother !" Lafayette 
beheld — working in the garden, clad in do- 
mestic-made clothes, and her gray head covered 
with a plain straw hat — the mother of his 
hero, his friend and a country's preserver ! The 
lady saluted him kindly, observing: "Ah, Mar- 
quis ! you see an old woman ; but come, I can 
make you welcome to my poor dwelling with- 
out the parade of changing my dress." 

During the interview, Lafayette, referring to 
her son, could not withhold his encomiums, 
which drew from the mother this beautifully 
simple remark : "I am not surprised at what 
George has done, for he was always a good 
boy." 

On the 7th of May, 1833, ^^^ corner-stone 
of a fine monument was erected over her grave 
in the cemetery at Fredericksburg, and Gen. 
Jackson, then President of the United States, 
closed his address with the following tribute: 
'"Fellow-citizens, at your request, and in your 
name, I now deposit this plate in the spot des- 
tined for it ; and when the American pilgrim 
shall, in after ages, come up to this high and 
holy place, and lay his hand upon this sacred 
column, may he recall the virtues of her who 
sleeps beneath and depart with his affections 
purified, and his piety strengthened, while he 
invokes blessings upon the Mother of Wash- 

—14— 































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